AVONDALE, Ariz., January 30, 2005 Four-time Indianapolis 500 starter Jimmy
-- Kite raced to a seventh-place finish in today's United States Auto Club (USAC) Weld
Racing Silver Crown season-opener. The Stockbridge, Ga. resident started
the No. 5 Westcon Racing/ Westcon Elevator Bloomer Engines-Beast tenth,
his event best, for today's 28th Annual Copper World Classic and
charged the car towards the top-five. The 1997 Copper World winner raced
as high as fifth in the 100-lap feature against the best short-track
drivers in the country.

The Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) one-mile oval offered an
incredible battle within the top-ten. After gaining several spots, Kite
became locked in a battle for fifth-place that lasted the remaining
distance of the event. Throughout the race, the four-time Copper World
starter never let the leaders out of his sight. Kite, who will contest
the remaining pavement races in the 2005 Silver Crown Series for Westcon,
sits sixth in the Weld Racing Silver Crown point chase. His next race
behind the wheel of the red and yellow Bloomer Engines-powered Beast
Chassis will come at Richmond International Raceway on June 24th. That
event falls one month after Kite hopes to attempt to make his fifth
Indianapolis 500 start on May 29th.

Jimmy Kite: "It was fun. We ran in a close pack and I could see the
leader all day long. The Westcon Racing guys are happy and I'm
happy. The last couple of years we would run OK here but leave with some
little thing that had gone wrong. We had a little glitch today that kept
us from finishing a littler higher but, we aren't too disappointed.
We're definitely getting off on the right foot this year. We know a
couple things that we need to work on but we have something good to work
from. We had a shot at the top-five but, compared to the last few years,
we can walk away pretty happy."

To learn more about Kite, please visit www.jimmykite.com. For the Jimmy
Kite Fan Club, log-on to www.jimmykitefans.com. For more on Westcon
Racing and the team's 2005 USAC Silver Crown campaign, please visit
www.westconracing.com .